Starting this month, San Francisco families earning less than $230,000 per year will receive free childcare, and families earning up to $310,000 will get half of their childcare costs subsidized. The plan is part of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Opportunity Agenda, aimed at reducing the cost of living for low- and middle-income residents of one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The average cost of childcare for a family in San Francisco is between $20,000 and $30,000 per child each year—and that’s on top of the astronomical housing and utilities costs. The cost of living in San Francisco is 62 percent higher than the national average, with housing costs at 153 percent higher than the national average, and utilities costing 53 percent higher than average.
To fund the plan, the city will pull from a pot of about $550 million in unspent tax dollars. Families will be able to access free or reduced-cost childcare from more than 500 providers citywide. The mayor’s Family Opportunity Agenda also includes programs to improve the affordability of basic needs including housing, education, food, and healthcare.
New York City, another location with a notoriously high cost of living, has also recently implemented a plan to provide free childcare for all two-year-olds in the city. In November, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to guarantee free childcare to all residents.
These policies are increasing in popularity across the country in response to the rising cost of childcare in the United States. The rapid rise in the cost of childcare is swallowing larger and larger portions of families’ income, while wages for many parents remain largely stagnant. In many states, the cost of childcare is rivaling housing as the top line item in most family budgets.
